As Florida braces for the impending Hurricane Milton, Governor Ron DeSantis has reportedly declined to engage with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Republican governor, according to various reports, perceives the outreach from the Biden-Harris administration as politically motivated. However, DeSantis has stated that he was not even aware of the calls from the White House.
According to Daily Mail, when President Biden attempted to connect with Governor DeSantis last week, the governor was in transit and unable to accept the call. The governor also did not receive a call from Vice President Harris this week. During President Biden's visit to Florida to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, DeSantis was engaged in a pre-planned press conference elsewhere in the state, resulting in no meeting between the two leaders.
In a press conference on Monday, when questioned about not accepting the call, DeSantis responded, "I didn't know she called me. I saw that, but I wasn't aware of that." He also claimed ignorance of the president's call, assuring that "We've gotten approvals for everything we asked for."
Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden's Press Secretary, addressed the issue on Monday, stating, "It's up to the governor if he wants to respond to us or not." She also noted that the decision to not meet with the president was entirely the governor's.
As the state prepares for another storm following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, DeSantis has been in communication with Federal Emergency Management Director Deanne Criswell, despite not being in direct contact with the president or vice president. When asked if politics was influencing hurricane relief response, Jean-Pierre responded, "That's really for the governor to speak to, right?"
Rumors have been circulating among Republicans that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not providing sufficient aid to those affected by the hurricane. Some suggest that excessive funds have been allocated for housing migrants and illegal immigrants, leaving insufficient resources for hurricane relief. Others are promoting conspiracy theories that accepting aid could lead to the federal government seizing their homes, causing many Americans to hesitate in seeking the help they need.
As Florida continues to recover from the wreckage of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall by Wednesday. The state's leadership, particularly Governor DeSantis, is under scrutiny for its handling of the situation and its interactions with the federal government. The governor's decision to decline communication with the Biden-Harris administration has raised questions about the political motivations behind disaster response, highlighting the ongoing tension between state and federal authorities.
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